Australian actor to star in House of Cards' final season

An up-and-coming Australian actor is set to star in the final season of House of Cards.

Cody Fern, a recipient of the prestigious Heath Ledger Scholarship, hails from rural Western Australia but will soon make an appearance in one of the most popular political dramas of all time. The actor is due to appear in all eight episodes of the Netflix original's sixth instalment.

The plum role means the Australian actor will be a series regular, starring alongside new high-profile cast members Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear. While little is known about what season six has in store, it was been revealed that Lane and Kinnear will play siblings and that House of Cards' final instalment will centre around Robyn Wright's character Claire Underwood.

The show's former lead, Kevin Spacey, was fired following allegations of sexual misconduct. While filming has resumed, the Spacey scandal cost Netflix millions of dollars after it decided to halt production and conduct expensive reshoots.

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Cody Fern has previously starred in the stage production War Horse.Credit:Simon Schluter

Fern's most recent credits include roles in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace and The Tribes of Palos Verdes. He has also written and directed a short film called Pisces and starred in the stage adaption of War Horse.

Fern was born in a small town of Southern Cross, which lies more than 300 kilometres east of Perth with a population of less than 1000 people. After studying commerce and marketing, he interned with professional services firm Ernst & Young – but quit after watching Cate Blanchett in the 2007 film Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

He sold his laptop, clothes and furtniture to pay for acting lessons and eventually snapped up a lead role with the Shakespeare WA theatre company. He then moved to Sydney in 2011 where he successfully auditioned for the role of Albert in War Horse, before moving to the United States.

In 2014 he received a scholarship named after the late Australian actor Heath Ledger and his star has been on the rise ever since.

Season six of House of Cards is expected to be released in the second half of 2018.